A Weeknight Project

Do you have a t-shirt you absolutely adore, but just doesn't fit you properly? You know the story; it's too big, it's not a feminine cut, but you still want to wear it every day. I was faced with this problem when my friend Martha from Sunday Afternoon Housewife gave us a pair of her Indie Loves Indy silk-screened t-shirts as going away gifts. These shirts are great to show our Indy pride, but the cut didn't suit me in the hot Austin weather. It was too heavy & covered too much to keep me cool. After scouring the internet for ideas, I came up with this super-easy shirt reconstruction plan. I'm sure you've seen it before, or it's printed in some book, but I'm still going to share it with you.

Step 1:  Grab your favorite t-shirt. Make sure that it's a shirt that is at least a little too big, too small won't work!

Step 2: Cut off the arms, following the seam. Cut around the neckline, as I've marked here. You may cut straight across or a bit diagonally, both work and both are cute. Make sure that you're cutting through the front and back of the shirt. You may cut off the bottom hem as well, if you wish. I pretty much only do this if a shirt is too long.

Step 3: You're almost done already! Stretch out the arms, collar, and bottom (if you cut it) so it kinda curls up a bit and doesn't look freshly cut. Next, cut off the hems of both sleeves.

  

Step 4: Take the hems you cut off the sleeves and cut in half. You will have 4 short pieces of fabric. Take a piece and tie 2 or 3 knots near the collar on your front strap. Repeat this again on the front, and then on the back of both straps. Done!

 

How easy was that? Now you can salvage any shirt that might be just a little to big for you with a pair of scissors and 15 minutes!

It's voting season.

Everyone is asking for votes and donations this month. Seriously, everyone. Check out these projects: 

Sunday Afternoon Housewife is trying to raise cash for her "Culture of Craft" documentary over on kickstarter. Martha wants to travel to a variety of craft conferences to share (in her words) "the story of a culture."  If you don't know Martha, she is an amazing entrepreneurial gem. She runs a blog, teachings classes, is a summer gardener, and a constant inspiration and great friend! She has set up so many donation levels with great gifts. Let's help her raise the $12,000 she needs to realize her dream. If anyone deserves it, she does!






Homespun: Modern Handmade is up for another Pepsi Refresh Everything Grant. They were blessed with one last year which provided them the ability to open a truly unique store for Indianapolis. They were aiming for a retail space that would also provide a gallery and classes. Unfortunately, the gallery & class space was not able to be realized; so they're up for another grant to finally make it happen - and even bigger than the initial idea. Voting is open through the month of May, and you can vote once each day.






Nuvo is running their annual Best of Indy poll, voting is open until June 1st. Focused on " shining a light on what is outstanding and unique to our city, neighborhoods and neighbors", this contest is not for chains - but for local favorites. There is pretty much every category ever to vote for, and you can write in your favorites if you don't see 'em listed! I have a few suggestions (of course!), like Deezen for best punk band, Georgetown Market for best local food vendor,  Vanilla Bean Bakery for best sweets, and indySwank for best shopping for women's fashion.

Happy voting, y'all!

I sure hope Kickstarter accepts her!

Check out Martha's (Sunday Afternoon Housewife) video submission to Kickstarter.



I LOVE IT!